EPAIR(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual EPAIR(4)
NAME
epair -- A pair of virtual back-to-back connected Ethernet interfaces.
SYNOPSIS
To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following line in your kernel configuration file:
device epair
Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in loader.conf(5):
if_epair_load="YES"
DESCRIPTION
The epair is a pair of Ethernet-like software interfaces, which are connected back-to-back with a virtual cross-over cable.
Each epair interface pair is created at runtime using interface cloning. This is most easily done with the ifconfig(8) create command or
using the cloned_interfaces variable in rc.conf(5). While for cloning you only give either epair or epair<n> the epair pair will be named
like epair<n>[ab]. This means the names of the first epair interfaces will be epair0a and epair0b.
Like any other Ethernet interface, an epair needs to have a network address. Each epair will be assigned a locally administered address by
default, that is only guaranteed to be unique within one network stack. To change the default addresses one may use the SIOCSIFADDR ioctl(2)
or ifconfig(8) utility.
The basic intend is to provide connectivity between two virtual network stack instances. When connected to a if_bridge(4) one end of the
interface pair can also be part of another (virtual) LAN. As with any other Ethernet interface one can configure vlan(4) support on top of
it.
SEE ALSO
ioctl(2), altq(4), bpf(4), if_bridge(4), vlan(4), loader.conf(5,) rc.conf(5), ifconfig(8)
HISTORY
The epair interface first appeared in FreeBSD 8.0.
AUTHORS
The epair interface was written by Bjoern A. Zeeb, CK Software GmbH, under sponsorship from the FreeBSD Foundation.
BSD
July 26, 2009 BSD
Check Out this Related Man Page
VLAN(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual VLAN(4)
NAME
vlan -- IEEE 802.1Q VLAN network interface
SYNOPSIS
To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:
device vlan
Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in loader.conf(5):
if_vlan_load="YES"
DESCRIPTION
The vlan driver demultiplexes frames tagged according to the IEEE 802.1Q standard into logical vlan network interfaces, which allows rout-
ing/bridging between multiple VLANs through a single switch trunk port.
Each vlan interface is created at runtime using interface cloning. This is most easily done with the ifconfig(8) create command or using the
cloned_interfaces variable in rc.conf(5).
To function, a vlan interface must be assigned a parent interface and numeric VLAN tag using ifconfig(8). A single parent can be assigned to
multiple vlan interfaces provided they have different tags. The parent interface is likely to be an Ethernet card connected to a properly
configured switch port. The VLAN tag should match one of those set up in the switched network.
Initially vlan assumes the same minimum length for tagged and untagged frames. This mode is selected by the sysctl(8) variable
net.link.vlan.soft_pad set to 0 (default). However, there are network devices that fail to adjust frame length, should it fall below the
allowed minimum due to untagging. Such devices should be able to interoperate with vlan after changing the value of net.link.vlan.soft_pad
to 1. In the latter mode, vlan will pad short frames before tagging them so that their length stays not less than the minimum value after
untagging by the non-compliant devices.
HARDWARE
The vlan driver supports efficient operation over parent interfaces that can provide help in processing VLANs. Such interfaces are automati-
cally recognized by their capabilities. Depending on the level of sophistication found in a physical interface, it may do full VLAN process-
ing or just be able to receive and transmit long frames (up to 1522 bytes including an Ethernet header and FCS). The capabilities may be
user-controlled by the respective parameters to ifconfig(8), vlanhwtag and vlanmtu. However, a physical interface is not obliged to react to
them: It may have either capability enabled permanently without a way to turn it off. The whole issue is very specific to a particular
device and its driver.
By now, the list of physical interfaces able of full VLAN processing in the hardware is limited to the following devices: ae(4), age(4),
alc(4), ale(4), bce(4), bge(4), cxgb(4), em(4), ixgb(4), jme(4), msk(4), nge(4), re(4), sge(4), stge(4), ti(4), txp(4), and vge(4).
The rest of the Ethernet interfaces can run VLANs using software emulation in the vlan driver. However, some of them lack the capability of
transmitting and receiving long frames. Assigning such an interface as the parent to vlan will result in a reduced MTU on the corresponding
vlan interfaces. In the modern Internet, this is likely to cause tcp(4) connectivity problems due to massive, inadequate icmp(4) filtering
that breaks the Path MTU Discovery mechanism.
The following interfaces support long frames for vlan natively: bfe(4), cas(4), dc(4), fwe(4), fxp(4), gem(4), hme(4), le(4), nfe(4), nve(4),
rl(4), sf(4), sis(4), sk(4), ste(4), tl(4), tx(4), vr(4), and xl(4).
The vlan driver automatically recognizes devices that natively support long frames for vlan use and calculates the appropriate frame MTU
based on the capabilities of the parent interface. Some other interfaces not listed above may handle long frames, but they do not advertise
this ability of theirs. The MTU setting on vlan can be corrected manually if used in conjunction with such a parent interface.
SEE ALSO
ifconfig(8), sysctl(8)
BUGS
No 802.1Q features except VLAN tagging are implemented.
BSD
April 14, 2010 BSD